This accident was the cause of Edward III. ordering the construction in stone of a shed (seldam) on the north side of Bow Church, so that the royal party might in future be able to view the joustings and other shows with safety. Edward III. was for some years the most popular of our monarchs, for he was constantly conquering his enemies, and his people were proud of him. In 1343 a great triumph was organised in his honour, which is described in Sir William Segar's _Honour Militarie and Civil_. The King commanded that the tournament should be proclaimed in France, Henault, Flanders, Brabant and other places, 'giving passport and secure abode to all noble strangers that would resort into England.' The triumph took place in London, and continued for fifteen days. Dr. Jessopp gives us a vivid picture of what occurred four years afterwards 'when King Edward III. entered London in triumph on the 14th of October 1347, he was the foremost man in Europe, and England had reached a height of power and glory such as she had never attained before. At the Battle of Creci, France had received a crushing blow, and by the loss of Calais, after an eleven months' siege, she had been reduced well-nigh to the lowest point of humiliation. David II., King of Scotland, was now lying a prisoner in the Tower of London. Louis of Bavaria had just been killed by a fall from his horse, the imperial throne was vacant, and the electors in eager haste proclaimed that they had chosen the King of England to succeed. To their discomfiture the King of England declined the proffered crown. He "had other views." Intoxicated by the splendour of their sovereign and his martial renown, and the success which seemed to attend him wherever he showed himself, the English people had gone mad with exultation.'[110] Two years later (in 1349) the fearful pestilence, known of late years as the Black Death, was destroying half the population of the country.